Our Beliefs:
Lives centered on the Gospel of Christ
What Is the Gospel?
At our church, you will hear the word “gospel” repeatedly because it is the most important truth that we can know and experience. The gospel is not merely a message that needs to be shared with non-Christians, but also with Christians. It is not something that mature Christians move on from, but rather something that they move deeper into. The gospel is the lens in which we should view theology, ministry, and all aspects of life.
The Apostle Paul defined the word “gospel” concisely in 1st Corinthians 15:3-5 when he wrote, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Simply put, the gospel is all about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and the implications it has for us.
The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” It is the good news of God taking on flesh through the person Jesus Christ and rescuing mankind by His perfect life that we could never live, His substitutionary death that we deserved, and the resurrection that now gives us true life through His Spirit. While the gospel can be stated in a sentence, it is also the grand narrative that is told throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The gospel is the glorious story of how God is reconciling the whole world back to Himself through the life, death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. It is personal, yet cosmic. It is simple, yet infinite.
The Bible
We believe the Holy Bible was written to us. It was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is supreme source of truth for Christian beliefs about living and therefore our authority for truth. Because it is inspired by God, it is truth without any mixture of error. We believe in the miraculous literal accounts of God doing supernatural, beginning with the global catastrophe of the flood account of the waters covering all the high mountains of the earth and eight righteous survivors, Noah and his family on the ark as well as two of each kind of animals, the Israelites crossing the Red Sea on dry land, Jonah being swallowed by a big fish for 3 days and 3 night, Daniel in the lion's den overnight and found unharmed, Shadrach, Meshach, Abendigo thrown into the fiery furnace, etc. (Genesis 1-11; Exodus 14:21; Psalm 12:6; 119:11, 35, 97, 105, 160; Proverbs 30:5; Daniel 3:8-25; 6:23; Jonah 1:17; II Timothy 1:13; 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21)
God
God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three personalities: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God. (Genesis 1:1-2, 26-27; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2)
Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus, Israel’s promised Messiah, was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and advocate. ( Lk. 1:35; Jn. 1:1, 14:6; Acts 1:1-10)
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer spiritual gifts when they are saved. As Christians we seek to live under His control daily. (John 14:16-17; 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 2:38; II Corinthians 3:17; I Corinthians 2:12; 3:16; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 1:13; 5:18)
Man
Man is made in the image of God, to be like Him in character. He created them male and female as the supreme object of His creation. Although every person has tremendous potential for good, all of us are marred by man's corruption displayed by the disobedience of man toward God, we call this sin. All people have inherited this sin nature which separates us from God and causes a multitude of problems in our life and world. (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 8:3-6; Isaiah 53:6a; 59:1-2; Romans 3:23; 5:12)
Sanctity of Human Life
We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life. (Psalm 139) Life is a gift from creator God and must be respected from the moment of conception until natural death. We believe abortion is the intentional, willful termination of a pregnancy at any time after conception and constitutes the deliberate taking of an unborn human life. Accordingly, abortions, including reasons fro birth defects, gender selection, birth control, population control, and acts of encouraging, facilitating, or paying for an abortion are inconsistent with Scripture and the glory of God. (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 46:3)
Last Times
Eventually in His own time and His own way as described in scripture, God will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus will return personally with His church visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in heaven with the Lord. (Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27, 30, 36, 44; 25:31-46; Mark 8:38; 9:43-48; Luke 12:40, 48; 16:19-31; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; I Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28; 35-38; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; I Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1-6; II Thessalonians 1:7; I Timothy 6:14; II Timothy 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13; II Peter 3:2-7; I John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13)
Family
God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one biologically-born man and biologically-born woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is god's unique gift to illustrate the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreating the human race. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. a husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household ad nurturing the next generation. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God's pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; I Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 12:24; 14:1; 18:22; 22:6, 15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15, 17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; I Corithians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; I Timothy 5:8, 14; II Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-8; Hebrews 13:4; I Peter 3:1-7)
Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality
We believe that the term "marriage" has only one meaning: the unity of one biologically-born man and one biologically-born woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Genesis 2:18-25) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a (husband) and woman (wife) who are married to each other. (I Corinthians 6:18, 7:2-5; Hebrews 13:4) We believe that God has commanded the abstinence in unmarried, and that no form of any intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of marriage. We believe that participation in sexual practices including, but not limited to, adultery fornication, homosexuality, bi-sexual conduct, incest, polygamy, and bestiality, as well as the use of pornography constitute sinful perversions of God's gift of sex. (Matthew 15:18-20; I Corinthians 6:9-10) We also believe that gender is a gift from God, and He created human beings male and female; therefore, we hold the distinction between the two sexes to be sacred and that there are only two genders. We believe God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to change one's gender by any means. Any such attempt is inconsistent with Scripture. (Psalm 139:13-16; Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 11:11-12; Ephesians 5:22-23)
We believe God offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sins, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 6:9-11) We believe every person must be afforded compassion, love kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31) Any hatred or harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be rejected are not in accordance with Scripture or the beliefs of the church.
Salvation
Salvation is God's free gift to us. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God's offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin's penalty. When we repent and turn from our sin and our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved as we call upon Him. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith, and is evidenced by a transformed life from thereafter. Once received, we are adopted into God's family and we are eternally sealed as a child of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. (Romans 6:23; II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:8-9; John 14:6; Titus 1:2; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26; Romans 5:1; Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 15)
Baptism & The Lord's Supper
Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus. It is a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance it is a prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the Body of Christ, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. (Matthew 3:13-17; 26:26-30; 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; 14:22-26; Luke 3:21-22; 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts 2:38, 41-42, 8:35-39; 16:30-33; 20:7; Romans 6:3-5; I Corinthians 10:16, 21; 11:23-29; Colossians 2:12)
Learn through community.
The best way to really know and understand what we believe at Brookwood is being involved in one of our small groups. Love cannot exist outside of action - which at Brookwood is best shown through our groups.